


this isn't the same, you're not the same

by orphan_account



Category: COMMUNICATIONS Series - GHOST
Genre: Angst, F/M, Foreshadowing, oh look a story from me that isn't filthy filthy smut, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:27:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The aftermath of one of Nancy's nervous breakdowns, and Henry's fearful musings.





	this isn't the same, you're not the same

He found her in their room.

Sewing supplies were strewn across the floor, she had ripped the sheets off the bed. Nancy was curled up against the wall, usually tidy hair disheveled and her head in her arms. Heaving breaths escaped her throat - evidence of the crying and hysteria from earlier that Henry had been absent to.

Henry set his suitcase down on the floor, running over to his wife. A lump began to rise in his throat and he tried to force the same thought that had been nagging him for weeks now out of his mind.  _This isn't like Momma,_ he tells himself.  _It's Nancy, she's your wife, this isn't-_

"Nancy." The words felt artificial as he spoke. "Are you alright?"

Still trying to ignore the fear that was making his throat constrict and his hands shake, Henry reached out to touch his wife on the shoulder. She paid no attention to the gesture, but he could feel the up and down of her shoulder that signified her breathing. Then she tentatively moved a hand from where she had buried her face to place against Henry's. He knelt down next to her.

It had been like this for far too long, for the past few weeks, perhaps. Sometimes Henry was an unlucky witness to these emotional breakdowns. Nancy would gradually grow more and more irritable over the course of mere minutes, not unlike a bottle of soda rolling around. Then... she would burst.

It was all too familiar. Too, too familiar.

"Nancy, it's alright darling." The word "darling" felt unreal when it left his mouth. "I'm here. I'm sorry."

They remained like that for a while. They didn't need to talk, although it was different for the both of them. Then-

Nancy looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, black eye makeup staining her near-porcelain pale skin. "Henry?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"Yes?"

"Do you love me?"

It was the same question  _she_ used to ask him all the time. While Momma - was she even his Momma? Was it wrong or right to call her that? - would go beyond mere crying and end up screaming at him or fanning her cigarette smoke into his face, he was worried if Nancy would do the same. 

They weren't the same, he told himself. Nancy is Nancy, and Momma is gone. 

"Yes, Nancy. I love you very much."

She nodded for a moment, then futilely attempted to wipe away the mascara on her cheeks.

"I'll go clean up and make dinner," she said quietly. "I love you very much, you know."

Henry smiled when she kissed him on the cheek, but his feet remained firmly planted on the ground as he kept repeating the same words to himself. He didn't want this, he didn't know this would happen. He was sorry.

_They aren't the same. They aren't the same. They aren't the same._

**Author's Note:**

> lovi here!
> 
> so i honestly didn't think i'd end up writing something like this (i'm more of a smut lover myself, huehue), but... god damn if i don't absolutely love communications!
> 
> i don't have much to say here, though. i'm ok with the finished piece.
> 
> lovi out~


End file.
